“I feel a great proud for being able to donate blood at a young age,” a member of ‘We Are One’ said.

Cheongju Branch of ‘We Are One’, which is a youth volunteer group of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, held a ‘Life ON Youth On’ blood donation campaign on 31st Aug. 2022. We Are One celebrated its establishment on 30th July, starting with 90,000 youth members. They began a nationwide blood donation and are aiming to achieve 70,000 donors.

The event hosted by We Are One, Cheongju branch, was held at a bloodmobile provided by Chungbuk Blood Centre of the Korean Red Cross. Members who participated in the event actively participated in donating blood in the bloodmobile.

Park Byeongho (26 years old, male), a member of the Cheongju Branch of We Are One shared his experience, “I voluntarily donate my blood after thinking that donating blood of 70,000 donors could be a great opportunity to show the world the power of youth. Rewards like movie tickets used to draw my attention, however, I don’t need souvenirs anymore after thinking that I’m helping the country. My mindset was changed into a sincere volunteering heart.”

All youths remarked that they voluntarily donated because they thought they could help the local community, furthermore, help the world.

Park Sangmee (31 years old, female), who got out of the bus after donating blood smiled, “I found the courage to participate in this campaign after learning that blood plasma donation can help the world. I used to be afraid of needles, however, I donated blood for the five years after my last donation.”

This event is particular because it started in August, the month when securing blood is difficult. According to the Blood Management Headquarters of the Korean Red Cross, blood supply and demand is influenced by the seasons, but a crisis has emerged due to the recent re-transmission of the new coronavirus (COVID-19) and to weather conditions such as the overlapping of heat waves and heavy rains. Statistically, in August, the blood supply drops from an average of 5 to 3.5 days, nearing the ‘caution’ stage.

Heo Hyesook, head of the Blood Center of the Korean Red Cross Chungbuk branch, said, “Recently, we’re experiencing the ongoing blood supply difficulty because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the heat wave. No matter how the tech is developed, we haven’t invented the supplement for blood till now, therefore, blood donation should be done by many participants and steadily. ‘We Are One’ is playing that role, showing the ‘power of the volunteers.’” She added, “As there are five blood centers in Cheongju alone and as this wave of blood donation continues into the future, I hope many people will participate.”

Yo-han Bae, director of We Are One, Cheongju branch, who hosted the event, said, “We believe that, as members of We Are One, we should put the ‘life of Jesus’ into practice in the local community by following the teachings of the Bible. We are all participating in this blood donation campaign out of obligation as members of the community.”

Source: https://bit.ly/3q0BdOP

If you subscribe to this blog, you’ll know that Shincheonji Church of Jesus already had a volunteer group. Then, what makes ‘We Are One’ so special? It’s because they sorted and gathered all youth members of Shincheonji to make this new group. (The existing Shincheonji Volunteer Group has a variety of ages of participants and they’re doing an amazing job even today!) I expect We Are One actively volunteers where youths’ hands are needed the most.